I've had my own salt water (not family) since 1986. In 2008 I had a massive crash of a 400g amazing SPS tank. I spent days on the couch in front of the tank with tears rolling down my cheeks. The loss of life, the loss of time, the impossibility to replace were just overwhelming.
There were still some fish and corals left alive - but I couldn't deal with it. I got the water clear and then turned off the lights and all the accessory equipment and left the return pump and heaters running. The tank sat like this, just a brown box for about 9 months. Then I got diagnosed with Kidney Cancer.
I didn't want to deal with cancer without my tank. So I turned on the lights. I scrubbed an inch thick algae layer off the front of the tank and holy moly - There were damsels, and tangs, and a few angels and other fish swimming around in the darkness. All the aquascape was covered in a leafy brown turf algae. I drained the tank down to a few inches and brought the pressure washer into the house and just pressure washed all the rock in place. I used a wet dry vac to suck up as much as the algae on the bottom, filled the tank back up with water and a week later started adding fish and corals back.
In March of 2022, we sufferred a huge loss of the fish on a Thursday from a treatment of Salifert Flatworm Exit (130+ fish lost) and then the corals 30hrs later when the seam of the sump blew and the topoff filled the system back up with fresh water. We had a packed 1350g system at the time.
It was about 3 weeks of being in shock when I told my wife, I think it's time to take a break from the hobby for awhile. We have some other things going on in life as well that are challenges. My wife didn't even take a breath. She said, "Go Order the Tank that you want. Get a new tank. You're not taking a break.".
We'd been living with a 560g tank for almost 2 years that was an emergency swap out. And while the 560g was beautiful, it was 10x2.5x36t - It was impossible to work on as a reef tank. It was a gorgeous reef. But when you are 5.6' and round as a beer keg, your stubby lil arms don't reach very far into a 36 deep tank for mounting corals or picking up things that get knocked over.
So we called Titan Aquatic Exhibits and ordered a new 750g 120x48x30t and started our current tank build.
We are fortunate, in that while the money loss of March 2022 was outrageous, it didn't affect our life. And we could build a new tank and quickly restock it and not have to alter our lifestyle.
Now 7 months after filling the 750 with water, I'm glad my wife didn't let me take a break.
We had fully mature liverock and a running system. So 12 hours after adding water to the tank we had fish and the first couple corals in it. A week later we had 30 new corals in it. A week after that there were 60+ corals in it. For the first 4 months, even without a budget limit on buying corals, it was a overwhelming to see all that empty aquascape and imagine the patience it would take till I had a mature reef tank again. At about the 5.5 month mark we were up to 350+ frags in the tank and there was finally enough corals and fish (140+) so that I had a beautiful aquarium again.
Now I just need to be patient and let things grow and grow and grow.
Dave B
Dave B
My tanks' status don't define my reefing. Reefing isn't a hobby to me, it is who I am. Just like life, things happen. And just because they happen doesn't mean I just quit something. I continue with life and take the good with the bad.
